SocialRails

Free URL Encoder & Decoder

Encode and decode URLs instantly. Perfect for fixing broken links, preparing URLs for APIs, and handling special characters.

Try these examples:

URL Encoded

Length: 0 characters

URL Decoded

Length: 0 characters

What is URL Encoding?

URL encoding (also called percent-encoding) converts special characters into a format that can be safely transmitted over the internet. Special characters are replaced with a percent sign (%) followed by two hexadecimal digits.

When to Use URL Encoding:

  • URLs with spaces or special characters
  • Query parameters with user input
  • API requests with dynamic data
  • Form submissions with special characters
  • Sharing URLs that contain non-ASCII characters

Common URL Encoding Issues:

  • Broken Links: Spaces and special characters break URLs
  • Form Data: Special characters in form submissions
  • API Calls: Parameters with spaces or symbols
  • Email Links: @ symbols and spaces in email addresses
  • Search Queries: Special characters in search terms

URL vs URI Encoding:

  • URL Encoding: For web addresses and links
  • URI Encoding: More comprehensive, includes all URI schemes
  • Form Encoding: Spaces become + instead of %20

Common Character Encodings

%20
Space
&
%26
Ampersand
?
%3F
Question mark
#
%23
Hash/Fragment
%
%25
Percent sign
+
%2B
Plus sign
=
%3D
Equals sign
/
%2F
Forward slash
:
%3A
Colon
@
%40
At symbol

URL Encoding Best Practices

Do's

  • • Always encode user input in URLs
  • • Use proper encoding for query parameters
  • • Test URLs after encoding/decoding
  • • Encode entire parameter values, not the URL structure
  • • Use UTF-8 character encoding

Don'ts

  • • Don't double-encode already encoded URLs
  • • Don't encode the entire URL structure
  • • Don't assume all special characters need encoding
  • • Don't forget to decode on the receiving end
  • • Don't mix different encoding standards

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